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China and North Korea broke ground on Wednesday on developing a joint economic zone on a border island, in a sign Pyongyang may undertake Chinese-style reforms in its troubled economy, a report said. The ceremony drew about 1,000 people including Jang Song-thaek, the brother-in-law of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, the South's Yonhap news agency said. Pyongyang has drawn up a special law to set up a free trade zone on the island, called Hwanggumpyong in Korean and Huangjinping in Chinese, in the estuary of the Yalu River. The North's economy is beset by serious shortages of electricity and raw materials and is grappling with serious food penury. International sanctions have hurt its economy, restricting the country's access to international credit. Seoul-based Internet newspaper DailyNK said residents in the North's border city of Sinuiju were responding positively as the project could significantly improve their situation. Yonhap quoted an ethnic Korean in the Chinese border city of Dandong as saying, "It is a good thing if the development of the special zone serves as a momentum to spur the opening-up of North Korea's economy." AFP |
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